sammons



UNITED srfirusN rATnNT ormoni.

J. s. sAMMoNs, or N'Ew'ronk, N. Y.

MODE 0F ROOFING WITH SLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 32,383, dated May 21, 1861.

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, J. S. SAMMoNs, ofthe city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Roofing with Slate; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference `being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a plan or top view of a section of a roof with the slate laid according to my invention. Fig. 2, a. section of the same, taken in the line a', Fig. 1. Fig. 3, an enlarged section of the same, taken in the same line as Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

Various plans have been devised for laying slate roofs in order to overcome two diticulties; 1st, the breaking or fracturing of the slate in winter, due to the4 freezing of the water which lodges in the interstices, and 2nd, the sagging or sett-ling of the roof and consequent parting of joints and leakage, a result due to the weight of the slate. The first mentioned difficulty has been partially overcome by laying the slate in cement, without lapping the slabs, thereby allowing no joints or interstices for water to lodge in. The second dificulty however has not, so far as I am aware, been hitherto A obviated.

The slate when first laid in the ordinary way makes an exceedingly tight roof, the cements that are used forming water-tight joints but inelastic or unyield- `ing one and consequently on the sagging or settling of the roof, which soon occurs, the joints crack, or rather the cement, and the roof is not weather proof. f

The object of this invention is to obviate these difficulties and to this end I form elastic joints substantially as hereinafter described, whereby the joints are `allowed lto yield or give to compensate for the sagging or settling of the roof and at the same time remain perfectly water tight.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention I will proceed to describe it.

The rafters of the roof are covered with boards or planks A. as usual, and the slate slabs B. laid directly thereon. These slabs may be of any desired dimensions, but a square foot would probably be the most desirable size. These slabs are dressed or got out so as to have parallel sides and ends, and the edges of the slabs are ground beveling at their top and bottom as shown at a, a, in Figs. 2. and 3. By thus forming the edges of the slabs they are not liable to chip ofi' inhandling or in transporting them from place to place, as obtuseangles b, are formed at the edges of the slabs.

Each slab B. has a hole made through its center'. These holes are counter-sunk toreceive the heads of the screws c, by whichtlie slabs are secured to the boards or planks A.

The slabs A. are laid as follows. The first slab is laid on the boards or planks and secured thereto by its screw c, and the under or lower edge of the slab is then coated with a solution of india-rubber, and a strip C. of india rubberl is then placed against the under or lower edge of the said slab, the solution of rubber connecting it to lthe slab. The succeeding slab A. is then placed again-st the rubber strip C., the edge of the latter slab being coated with the india rubber solution, and pressed against the rubber so that it will fill the lower part of the space between the slabs, and the second slab is then secured to the boards or planks by its screw c.. The slabs are thus laid one after the other until one row the whole length of the roof iscompleted, and a second row is then laid adj oining the rst, india-rubber strips being interposed between the rows, or at the sides of the slabs as well as at their upper and lower ends. The former strips however` may be of any length, the whole length or depth of the row if desired, while the rubber strips C. are equal in length to the width of the slabs.

The rubber strips C. do not entirely fill the spaces between the slabs A. the strips C. extending upward about as far as the lower edges of the upper beveled surfaces a, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 3.

The space above the rubber strips C.- is filled with a cement D. composed of coal tar, a solution of india rubber, gutta percha, and a mineral compound known as Princes paint. The ingredients above named are placed into a proper vessel and heated over a re to insure a proper amalgamation and the cement may be applied by means of a brush either in a warm or cool state, the cement gradually hardening by age. After the cement D. is applied it may be coated with sand CZ.

The cement D. serves -to protect the indiarubber strips C. and at the same time it is sufficiently yielding to give to the sagging of the roof Without cracking.r The india rubber strips C. below the cement D. will of course yield more than the cement and it is necessary that they should, for thel rubber, as the roof sags, will be more distended than the cement.

The heads of the screws c, extend suffiiently far into the counter sinks of the slabs to permit of the heads being covered by cement D.

I do not claim broadly the laying of slate slabs with cement, for that has been previously done, nor do I claim separately or in itself considered any of the parts herein described, but

I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

The laying of the slate slabs B.' on the 20 the rubber strips C. and completely filling 25 the interstices between the slate slabs while the latter are permanently secured in position by the screws c, substantially as described.

J. S. SAMMONS.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, G. W. COWTAN. 

